Richard Arthur Woolcott AC, an Australian public servant, diplomat, author, and commentator, died on 2 February 2023. In 1967, Woolcott drafted a speech for Prime Minister Harold Holt that said Australia was geographically part of Asia and that it was “a basic tenet of our national policy to live in friendship and understanding with our Asian neighbors”.
Woolcott served as Australia’s High Commissioner in Ghana from 1967 to 1970. He traveled to Ouagadougou, Nouakchott, Dakar, Libreville, Monrovia, Abidjan, Lomé, Conakry, and Bamako on a regular basis.
Woolcott served as Australia’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1982 to 1988, and as President of the United Nations Security Council in November 1985. Woolcott also served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia’s highest diplomatic position, from 1988 to 1992.
As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he was instrumental in the formation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Woolcott was appointed as an envoy to lead discussions to establish a new Asian regional forum on June 4, 2008, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Woolcott was the Founding Director of the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre beginning in 1997. Woolcott published a personal memoir, The Hot Seat: Reflections on Diplomacy from Stalin’s Death to the Bali Bombings, in 2003, and a book, Undiplomatic Activities, in 2007.
Richard Woolcott’s Wife: Who Was Birgit?
Birgit Woolcott, Woolcott’s wife of 56 years, died of lung cancer in 2008. the couple has a son called Peter.